The Hermit tarot card – Just the Tarot

The Hermit – 13 X 19 inch poster by Dan Adair – Available on Etsy

Of all the figures in the Tarot, none stands more completely alone than The Hermit.

Unlike the Fool, the Magician, or the Emperor, the Hermit has intentionally stepped away from the crowd. He has withdrawn from unnecessary human contact, choosing solitude over society.

That seems almost contrary to human nature.

Aristotle observed that anyone who has no need of society must be either a god or a beast. Yet the Hermit is neither. He is simply a human being who has walked a very unusual road.

So how does someone become the Hermit?

1. The Wounded Hermit

For many people, the journey begins with pain.

They reached out sincerely. They loved, trusted, and tried to belong. Again and again they were hurt, rejected, or misunderstood.

Eventually they withdraw—not because they hate people, but because they need to protect what remains of their heart.

For some, this is the first step toward becoming the Hermit.

2. The Disappointed Hermit

Others are not driven away by wounds but by disillusionment.

They have done everything society promised would bring fulfillment. They built careers, earned money, fell in love, married, raised families, or achieved success.

Yet something still feels empty.

Status, romance, wealth, and recognition eventually turn to dust, leaving them quietly asking:

“Is this really all there is?”

3. The Called Hermit

Sometimes the first two experiences awaken something deeper.

After enough disappointment, a person begins to long for truth rather than comfort. They become convinced that life must contain something more profound than endless striving.

This is where the spiritual search begins.

The Hermit is no longer running away from the world.

He is walking toward wisdom.

4. The Natural Hermit

Some people simply possess the temperament for solitude.

Introverts often discover that being alone restores rather than depletes them. What began as an escape from pain gradually becomes a place of peace.

They don’t merely tolerate solitude.

They flourish there.

For these people, being alone feels less like isolation and more like coming home.

The Hermit’s True Gift

For some, the Hermit is only a season of life—a place of healing before they return to the world.

For others, it becomes a lifelong calling.

They gradually realize they never truly fit the expectations of the culture around them. Solitude begins as medicine but eventually becomes as necessary as breathing.

The Hermit archetype doesn’t create that feeling of being different.

It simply shines a lantern on a truth that has always been there.

Sometimes the greatest journey isn’t learning how to belong to the crowd.

Sometimes it’s discovering who you become when the crowd is no longer needed.

Available on Etsy as a downloadable PDF book.

This is one of the more mysterious cards in the deck and hearkens very much to Gandalf the Gray from the Tolkien Trilogy. This card can indicate a person who has withdrawn from society and is living a life of contemplation and meditation. On the other hand it can indicate that the questioner needs to withdraw from normal life for a while and go through a period of self examination and deeper thought about the meaning of his or her life.

It can also indicate a wise counselor who can give the questioner much needed advice and insights. The lantern represents psychic and psychological insight and the figure is on a much higher plane than the rest of us, so it may be that the questioner should seek out the counsel of a Wise Woman or Man.

In any case, this is a card of solitude and the individual is very much withdrawn from others around him. This isn’t a bad sort of solitude, however, this is a solitude that involves spiritual growth and contemplation.

REVERSED – This can be interpreted in several different ways. It may indicate someone who is spending far, far too much time alone and needs the feedback and companionship of other human beings.

On the other hand, it can indicate a social butterfly who is spending far, far too little time alone and needs to withdraw for a while and develop a little spiritual and emotional depth.

On the relationship level it can indicate a partner who is having a MAJOR sulk and snit fit and is holed up feeling sorry for his or her self. It can also indicate that a relationship is over for good.

If you have questions about this card or its meaning in one of your readings, please don’t hesitate to leave a comment. I’ll get back to you as soon as I can.

A Few More Thoughts About the Hermit:

I ran across an online definition of The Hermit in which the author said that it was a, “sad,” card and that The Hermit’s wisdom, “has no substance,” until it’s shared with others.

Sigh . . .

Togetherness and, “sharing,” have almost become a disease in our society. And the point is that you have to have something to share. Increasingly, people don’t. Look at it this way:

Suppose that this circle represents you as an energy field. It contains all of your emotions, your thoughts, your physical body. Then you fall in love with someone and become partners and that looks a lot like this:

Part of your energy field has merged with part of his or her energy field. There’s still a part of you which is separate and unique but there’s also a part of you that is an amalgam of you and your partner. Then say that you have children or even just get a roommate and it starts to look like this:

So your energy field – the part of you that is uniquely you – is now merged with two other energy fields. Then throw in the people at your job and you look like this:

As I’m sure you noticed the part that is uniquely you just keeps getting smaller. You can make a very good argument that all of those other energy fields merging with your energy field is a good thing. We draw strength and inspiration and love from interacting with other humans. But if you keep adding and adding and adding energy fields, at a certain point you’re so merged with other people’s thoughts and feelings that you don’t know which are yours and which are theirs.

And, as if all that weren’t enough, throw in the internet. And facebook. And instagram. And twitter. You encounter people in the stores and on the streets who appear to have their smart phones permanently affixed to their ears and they respond to every post, every personal message, every tweet. It’s as if the internet has become a secondary sensory system for them, tendrils reaching endlessly in and out into virtual reality.

The Hermit is a deliberate withdrawal from all of that. And it begins with a single question: “Who in the hell am I?”

All Native cultures honor the tradition of, “the Spirit Quest.” An individual goes off to be alone, fast, meditate, and seek visions and messages from the Spirit World. Not just to ask, “Who am I?” but to ask what am I? What is my place in this world? What should I be doing in this lifetime? Why do I exist?

And that’s what The Hermit represents. It’s a period of withdrawal from the world, an emptying out of, “others” so that you can find your authentic self. And, no, it is not made any more or less valuable by sharing it with others. It stands alone.

Tag: The Hermit tarot card

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